Name: You’re Losing Me 

This photo uses different techniques to embody the song, “You’re Losing Me”, and brings the feelings of aching distance and personal unknowing to life. Starting with the droplets of water on the mirror which somewhat distort the image of Andy, reinforcing the song’s theme of uncertainty and emotional distance. The droplets themselves can be seen as representing the emotional weight and sadness that has been inflicted, which connects with the songs sense of overwhelming about of emotional troubles. The person in the distance helps represent the feelings of fading connections, much like the song’s constant reminder of the loss of love. The monochrome colour palette helps convey the feelings of raw emotion, with the lack of colour supporting the troubles of emotional isolation and feeling alone in this troublesome time.  

Name: Right Where You Left Me 

The photo portrays the emotions and narration of the song “Right Where You Left Me,” perfectly with different photography techniques and elements. The water droplets that cover the reflective surface add both texture to the photo and emotional weight. The water blurs the reflective surface and in turn the subject in the reflection which helps reinforce the themes of disconnection, longing and loss of time. The photo also uses soft focus and the depth of field to make the subject feel unreal – like it’s a memory rather than a present event. The glass can represent a barrier between reality and the subject, just like the perspective of the lyrics in the song. With the sharpness of the photo being focused on the water droplets contrasts with the blurriness of the reflection – especially the reflection of the person – mimics the lyrics, “I stayed there, dust collected on my pinned-up hair,” from the song that shows how the person is stuck in time, being more and more irrelevant while the rest of the world continues on in full detail.  

Name: Mirrorball 

This photograph utilizes the use of the mirror reflection and monochrome to portray the song “Mirrorball” and all of its emotional baggage. Starting with the use of the mirror, which is often used to add layers to photos, it caught Andy’s reflection at an angle that emphasizes introspection and self-perception. With the mirror’s tilted angle creating an off-centered reflection or a fragmented representation of the subject, which perfectly parallels the lyrics of the narrator’s shifting identity in the song. The use of the mirror also adds to the effect of wanting to be seen but also feeling isolated in the visibility in the song. Being framed in a mirror, Andy is both on display but also distanced from reality just as the narrator in the song. The song captures a longing to remain relevant, to keep “shining just for you,” despite being fragile. With Andy’s body language, looking away from the reflection as though he is insecure about himself and the frail branches of the trees in the background the photo also reflects this balance.  

Mood board

Statement of Intent:

When my audience looks at these set of pictures, through the use of a monochrome colour scheme, I want them to feel a sense of calm but also the feeling of longing. My inspiration for this collection is Saul Leiter, as his work with windows and water really helped me get an idea of how I wanted to take these photos.  

This photo is composed of two mirrors and some water. The mirror that I took the photo from is facing the mirror that has the reflection of the subject – Maggie – in it. Using selective colour, I made the saturation of Maggie’s red highlights 100 to help it shine through the water droplets and make the blurred image of Maggie more noticeable. I dimmed the lighting of the image, which also helped define the image of Maggie and made the whole photo go from a super bright overly pale photo to a much darker easier on the eyes photo. I also sharpened the photo, all three options at max, which completely changed the way that the water droplets look on the mirror.  

This picture’s main change is the change in lighting. The lighting in this photo, similar to the last, was very bright and pale before I edited it. The edited version is much cooler toned and helps bring out the colour in Maggie’s hair. The original version is almost completely faded to white, with all these colours in the background almost nonexistent. This photo doesn’t involve water, focusing on the reflection of Maggie instead of the droplets reflecting Maggie. The mirror somewhat distorts Maggie’s face, making it appear squashed instead of just reflecting her as she looks without the mirror.  

This is my favourite photo of the lot. Starting with the darker blue mirror, it has a water stain on it from when I sprayed water on the mirror to take a picture of Maggie. That stain is fully sharpened to make it easier to define, and when you zoom in on the stain you can see that it contains a mix of different colours including yellows and browns. The image being reflected in the darker mirror is blurry, not so blurry that you can’t tell what is being reflected but blurry enough that there’s no details. Also reflected in the darker mirror is a small reflection of a blurry dark shape that looks like a person, though it’s too blurry to be able to identify who that person is. The lighter blue mirror’s frame has been illuminated thanks to the use of selective colour. Both frames have been lit up, and the whole image has been more defined. Without changing the lighting setting in the photo, the definition helps tone down the brightness.  

For this photo I wasn’t sure how to edit it, so I clicked auto for the colour and lighting and here we are. Lighting was increased and made the photo brighter but also the reflection of Maggie overpowered the reflection of me in the mirror. This left us with a Maggie head reflection and a Scarlett body reflection. The colour also increased slightly, the original was super dull and monochromatic barely holding any colour at all. This increase gave the photo more colour but it’s still rather dull in comparison to other photos. The window is covered with droplets of water from the spray bottle, but a square has been wiped away, to help the camera focus on Maggie’s face through the window. The photo isn’t the most balanced, the square is off centered, the right side of the window has a significantly larger number of droplets, Maggie isn’t centered, and the left side has more playground, but combined all together the elements almost balance the photo.

This photo is the only Black and White picture of the collection, and the image looks superimposed, with my and Maggie’s bodies overlapping becoming one. The photo is similar to the previous one, with there being uneven patches of droplets and Maggie being off centered. The droplet groups are placed above an invisible line, none of the patches are below that line. This is so the excess water can naturally drop down and the whole image isn’t covered with water overload.  

Photo 1 – B&W Steve 

Title: Chihiro 

This is the best photo of the three, because the photo is completely sharpened which enhanced the photograph completely. It’s also in black and white, fitting the stalker theme. The picture has a natural frame and rule of thirds, thanks to the bars on the outside of the phone booth. The title Chihiro is also a Billie Eilish song, and it’s about the loss of a relationship and separation. In this series of pictures, Steve is the “stalker” who is following Tina. This image is the beginning of the story. The reason that the song is Chihiro instead of The Diner is because during this time Steve hadn’t started stalking Tina yet, just watching her from afar because he missed her. The lyrics from Chihiro are still quite concerning when taken out of context for example, “Open up the door, can you open up the door?” and “How come when I returned you were gone away?” These two lyrics help set the tone of the series, and as the photos continue it escalates more and more from a longing rekindle to stalking you until you become mine again. 

Photo 2 – B&W Layered Mirror 

Title: The Diner 

This picture was taken in a car window, and it reflected the side mirror which was reflecting me taking the photo. The only edit of this layered photograph has been making the photo black and white, rather than in colour. I really like this image because it’s one of the only photos I have that uses perspective in the composition rather than a basic picture of just the window or the mirror. The title of this picture is “The Diner” inspired by the Billie Eilish song. The song is about Billie’s stalker, and it’s written in the perspective of her stalker. In this picture, the blurred figure plays the role of the “stalker” following Tina as she goes about her day. The lyrics, “I saw you in the car with someone else I couldn’t sleep” are what I think relate best to this song. The stalker looking in the car window at Tina and the other person and the photo being taken in her car window. 

Photo 3– Tina Wan 

Title: NDA 

This picture was actually an accidental photo. My friend and the subject of the photo – Tina Wan – was standing in a spot with good lighting so I told her to smile, and I took a bunch of pictures. Though the reflection may not be as obvious as any photo’s I’d taken before hand, there is a reflection of light off her hair, at the top of the head and down the left side following her hair. I edited the photo to make it warmer and make the reflection more obvious. The warmth also enhances the background colours, specifically the rust on the right side of the photo. The photo uses rule of thirds, with Tina’s head split in between the left and middle thirds. This is also a photo inspired by a Billie Eilish song, NDA, which is in her perspective over the person who is stalking her, said in the lyrics, “Got a stalker walking up and down the street.” The photo can be taken by the stalker, and that’s why it’s a back of head photo instead of a face photo, because she didn’t know it was being taken. NDA does stand for Non discloser agreement, which doesn’t have anything to do with stalkers, but it does have to do with privacy. This photo was taken at the point where Tina was now aware that she had a stalker, just not sure what to do about it so she has taken all the precautions she can including making people sign NDAs anytime they meet with her.  

This photograph was taken by Saul Leiter, and it’s a street photo taken from the opposite side of a window. The main focal point is of the person who is one of the only non blurry part of the image, the other clear part being the writing on the window though even that is hard to make out as it is written backwards. Leiter used the rule of thirds in this picture, as the focal point of the image isn’t centered in the middle, instead it’s in the top third center part if you split the image into 9 boxes. There is sort of a natural frame around the person, as the condensation on the window has been wiped off and frames the person’s head for the shot. The dreary weather and the condensation on the window make the photograph rather depressing in my opinion and it also makes me long for like a warm cup of tea and a nap, it makes me cozy. I want to have a similar idea, but perhaps instead of condensation on the windows we could use a spray bottle and spray the water on the outside of the window then photograph the person on the inside of the window. This would both include reflections – from the water and window – and portraits in my final piece. I want the image to make people feel thoughtful (?) and reflective (?) kind of like the song from Mulan – Reflection, that’s what I want people to think of.

You can see in the picture that the items being used to create the environment that hold the figurine are a set of neutral colours that contrast the figurine’s palette of blues. The cardboard box behind the figurine can be interpreted as a store that they just left, with the help of the words on the box that name the company and has the name of the store/business. The tissue roof can be interpreted as a canopy protecting the figurine from a rainstorm. Another way to interpret the photo is to think of the box as a bus stop/office where you buy tickets, and the figurine is waiting at the bus stop for the bus.  

The photo uses the rule of thirds with the figurine being off to the right of the photograph instead of the center. The box creates a natural frame for the character, boxing in the scene that makes me feel a sense of isolation. The dark corner on the character’s side adds the feeling of being forgotten because it’s like the darkness will slowly swallow up the figurine and no one will notice. It reminds me of the feeling when all your friends have a sleepover/party without you, and they talk about it in front of you like all is fine and you didn’t mind. It reminds me of being someone who was forced to be independent because all the attention was on someone else. The character’s face is also quite downcast, in a pout or a disappointed expression as though they expected better but also knew this was going to happen.